How Did It Happen?
by hollyjaynee
Summary: The war is over, and Harry Potter won. Nineteen years later, he and Ginny Weasley are married, with three children. What chain of events led to this? ... Just my take on what happens. I really appreciate reviews. :
1. The Second Beginning

_Chapter One – The Second Beginning._

It was absolute chaos, and as Ginny Weasley stared around the room she didn't think she'd ever seen two stronger, contradicting emotions in one room ever before. Happiness, lots and lots of happiness. Happier than the wizarding world had looked for a long, long time. But then sadness, and loss. Ginny herself didn't know what to feel.

Should she feel happy? Voldemort, the most feared wizard of all time was dead. Gone. Harry Potter was free, finally. Maybe that would mean... well, she shouldn't think of that now. The other emotion, sadness, seemed to be taking over her anyway. She looked at her brother, George. Fiery red hair, to match hers. Nearly as tall as Ron, who was skinny and tall, and standing next to him. George was crying, more than Ginny had ever seen him do before. In fact, had she ever seen him cry before? He had good reason though, for he used to be two. Before tonight, when you looked at him, you'd see two of him. George and Fred, Fred and George. That's how it was. And now it's just George. It doesn't fit. He wasn't smiling cheekily, thinking of more ways to annoy people, like he used to. He was on his own, crying, just one person, not two.

So what would happen now? Would life go back to normal, as it was when Voldemort was still gone? How could they return to their lives, without Fred? Or Lupin? Or Tonks? Or all the other people that had fallen to Voldemort and his Death Eaters?

Ginny's eyes fell upon Hermione and Ron, stood together, to the left of George. They both turned their head simultaneously towards the small space in between them. They turned from that space to each other, and got up, smiling at Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys, and walked toward the exit of the Great Hall. Ginny knew what'd happened. Harry was there, wearing his invisibility cloak, asking them to leave with him. She didn't blame him, it was chaos in here, and although she didn't know what Harry, her brother, Ron, and Hermione had been doing for the past months, she knew that he must be relieved, and unbelievably tired. She knew that all this time this is what he was fighting for. The end of Voldemort, so he must be wanting to rest and to have a good nights sleep. She too, was tired. She thought of her four poster bed that hadn't been slept in since Christmas, and then thought of the camp-bed she'd had to sleep in t Aunt Muriel's.

"Mum?" she said, turning to look at her Mum. She didn't like what she was looking at. She could barely see the brown eyes of her Mum's, which matched hers so much, as her Mother's eyes were filled with tears, which just didn't seem like they were ever going to stop. Ginny didn't know whether this was going to hurt her Mum, but she was just too tired to sit here any more.

"Would you mind if I went up to the common room for a bit of a sleep? I'm so tired, I haven't slept properly since the three of them, Harry, Ron and Hermione, left the Burrow, and, I just need some sleep."

"Yes, yes of course dear," Mrs Weasley replied, through tears. She gave her daughter a wet kiss on the head, and Ginny turned towards the rest of the family and forced a smile. She lingered on George for a little longer than she did the rest, and he tried to repay her smile, with a forced little quiver of his mouth. Ginny nodded at him, to say she'd noticed his effort, and turned and walked towards the exit.

The corridors were silent, and most of the portraits that were usually full of people sleeping or speaking to one another were all empty. Everyone was gathered in the Great Hall Ginny thought, or maybe in the headmasters study, where Dumbledore was. Who knows? The only thing she cared about was some sleep.

But as she approached the portrait that she knew her old common room was behind, she realised she hadn't been here for months. She didn't know the password. The Fat Lady smiled at her as she approached.

"Welcome back darling," she said with a smile. It was clear she was as happy as the rest of the wizarding world. "Harry's in there." Another smile, and whilst saying "the password's Albus Dumbledore," she swung open, emitting Ginny into the common room. Ginny smile back, and whispered "thank you" as loud as she could. The mention of Harry being in there had thrown her. She didn't know he was in there. The butterflies that she was now so familiar with fluttered in her stomach, as they always did when somebody mentioned his name. Even more so now, as they knew she may just have a chance of speaking to him. She pushed her flaming mane of red hair out of her face, and tried to wipe the tears away. What would she say to him? She didn't know how he felt any more. She still felt the same, but she didn't know about Harry. He had kept his distance while she was here, but she didn't know whether this was because he wanted to keep her safe, or whether it just came natural to him, and he didn't want to be around her.

She had missed him so much while he'd been away. She couldn't bring herself to go near the lake or the beach tree under which they had spent so much time. None of her friends knew why she avoided these places so much, but she did.

She paused for a while in the doorway. She couldn't hear anyone in the common room, so she pulled herself together and carried on, and there were Ron and Hermione, sat on their favourite armchair in front of the fire. Hermione was sat on Ron's knee, her arms draped around his neck, and her head resting on his shoulder. They weren't speaking, but Ginny knew they were awake.

"Hey," Ginny said, nearly whispering as she settled herself on the sofa next to them.

"Oh, hey Gin," Hermione said, looking flustered and jumping up from Ron, who was also looking a bit pink in the face.

"Don't get up Hermione," Ginny mumbled, with a weak smile. "Do you think I don't know? I'm not stupid, I've seen the way you two look at each other. In my opinion it's about time you stopped denying that you love each other."

Hermione was moving to sit back down on Ron's lap, until she heard the word love. Simultaneously, Ron and Hermione turned a lovely shade of scarlett, as Ginny said, "not told each other that yet then? Oh you both know it's true," and she chuckled at their red faces. "Why else do you think you argue so bloody much."

Hermione resumed her returning to Ron's lap, both neither of them spoke.

"Harry in bed then?" Ginny asked. She didn't mean to sound so disappointed, but she couldn't help it.

"Yeah," Hermione mumbled, and Ginny knew Hermione had sensed the disappointment that had sounded.

"I'll go and see if he's awake," Ron said, as Hermione got up from his knew, allowing him to stand up.

"No, no don't!" Ginny said. She wanted to speak to him, she did, but she was scared of what he had to say. "It doesn't matter, he'll be tired. Leave him." But Ron was already on the second step up to their dormitory.

"Don't be scared, Gin," Hermione whispered. "There's no need. Honestly. He's really missed you."

"I've missed him. I've missed all of you." Ginny mumbled, staring at the floor, and she just couldn't stop a tear falling from her eye. "He doesn't understand how cut up I was when he left me. I know he didn't do it to hurt me, but it still did. I never let him see though. I didn't want him feeling guilty. I've never let him see me crying. I only just stopped him from seeing in my room at The Burrow. That was the best moment of my life, and Ron had to ruin it."

"Yeah, he's got a knack for that, has Ron," Hermione replied, obviously trying to make Ginny smile.

"Thanks darling," came Ron's voice from behind her. "Yeah, thanks a lot," he said with a smile. "I'm sorry about that Gin, I didn't know it meant so much to you. He really missed you, you know. He didn't mean me to see, but he spent a lot of time while we were away just staring at your dot on the Marauders map. The reason I broke up your kiss on his birthday was because I felt like he was messing you around, but, I reckon I was as wrong as I can get."

"Correct," came a voice. The sound of it made Ginny's hear flutter. It was him, Harry. She hadn't heard his voice that tender for a long time. She felt her eyes fill up again, and pushed her tears back, remembering that he'd never seen her cry. Then she thought about what he had actually said. He'd said 'correct.' What was correct? What Ron was saying? Surely that was too good to be true? She turned to look at him, and he was staring at her. He wasn't smiling, but she could see in his eyes that he was happy that she was there. And they were just staring at each other. Neither of them smiling, or lowering their gaze. It was the best Ginny had felt since that day at The Burrow. In fact, she felt better now. A reunion after this long was so much better than a goodbye kiss.

There was confirmation in his eyes. Whether or not he cared for her as a friend or more, she didn't know, but she knew that he cared for her.

Hermione was nodding at Ron, towards the stairs that led up to the girls and boys dormitory's.

"Oh," he muttered, and he walked between Ginny and Harry, braking their eye contact. Hermione went to head for the girls dormitory, and Ron followed, but it seemed that both of them had forgotten about the rule about boys going into the girls dormitory's. As he stepped onto the stairs, they let out a huge cry, and the stairs disappeared, leaving a smooth slide, which threw a surprised Ron and Hermione down it, and onto the floor.

"Oh, how could I forget," Hermione moaned as Ron pulled her back to her feet, giggling away to himself.

Ginny couldn't help laughing. It was the funniest thing she'd seen in quite a while, and to laugh felt like a relief. It felt good, and before long, the four of them were laughing, unable to stop once they'd started.

After what seemed like half an hour, but what was really half a minute, Hermione giggled, "okay then, we'll try the boys instead," and still laughing, she dragged Ron past Harry and up the stairs, and Ron gave a second look at Ginny and Harry, and Ginny sensed that he was half disapproving of leaving the two of them in a room on their own. She loved him, Ginny thought, but he was so protective, and she didn't need it. Or maybe she did. She wouldn't know until Harry had spoken.

Harry was still stood where he had stood when he had said ''correct'' in reply to Ron's comment. He was still smiling, and he'd resumed his staring at Ginny. Ginny stared back, thinking how this was absolute bliss. Staring into his bright green eyes, with his messy dark hair surrounding him in all directions, and his glasses a little lop-sided. Ginny guessed he'd just shoved them on after Ron had entered his dormitory.

Ginny was determined not to lower her gaze, but Harry didn't either, and she wondered how long this would go on for. Eventually, she tore her eyes away from his gaze. The silence was piercing her, but yet she didn't want it to end. She was scared of what he was going to say. Was he going to tell her they can't carry on, or pick up from where they left off? Or was he going to tell her that he missed her? She looked into the fire, down at the floor, straight at the sofa, and then back at Harry. He wasn't staring at her any more. He was moving towards the leather, maroon sofa directly opposite the fire. The sofa Ginny had just vacated.

As he sat down he looked back up at her, and gestured for her to sit down. Ginny obeyed instantly, and she sat herself at the other end of the sofa, as she didn't know how close he wanted her. How she longed to be sat right next to him, even if she was just touching his shoulder with hers, she didn't care. She just wanted to be close to him. He smiled at her. It was a playful smile, and Ginny looked at him, confused. His grin spread even wider when he said, "I don't bite, you know."

This was the confirmation Ginny needed. So he wasn't going to blow her off completely. She moved a little closer to him, and returned the grin he was giving her. And again, they were back into staring into each others eyes. Ginny stared, examining his eyes. She didn't know whether this would be her last chance to do this properly.

The smiles had vanished from both of the faces, but again, Ginny saw in Harry's eyes the smile that would have been on his face.

"I'm sorry, Gin," Harry finally said. He was the only one that had ever called her 'Gin'. The sound of this name made the rest of her body fill with what seemed like hot liquid. It was the happiness, and the relief at the sound of the name, but then she listened again, to what he had said in her head. He had said sorry. She should have known it was coming. Why would he, Harry, want to be with her. He'd defeated the darkest wizard of all time. He'd fought so many, done so much for the world. He had the choice of so many witches. Why would he want her? She dropped her head to look at the sofa they were sitting on. She didn't want him to see her crying, and she knew she would at some point.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, "for everything I've put you through." As he said this, he reached for Ginny's chin, and pulled up her head, so she was looking directly into his eyes. The butterflies were hammering at her chest, so much so that she felt her stomach was going to open for them to get away, she couldn't stop them form making her stomach feel weak now. She didn't care. The feel of his touch had sent her senses wild. She couldn't help but smile at it.

"I owe you a complete explanation for everything that I've done, the reason I had to leave you in the first place. You know, it broke my heart to do it. I've been in two ever since I left you Gin, and I completely understand if you don't want me back, it's what I'm expecting. I left you, and you could've met anyone whilst I was away, but while I've got you here, and we're alone, I just wanted you to know how I feel, because if I never told you, I'd regret it forever."

So he'd been feeling the same way as her. She paused after he'd finished. He was staring into her deep brown eyes, and she was staring back. She hadn't felt this happy in so long. He had felt the same way as her the whole time he'd been away. She needn't have worried every single day. She had missed him so much, and she needed to tell him, but she was scared that once she started talking, she wouldn't be able to stop. He needed to know though. She was arguing with herself in her head. Did she tell him? Or did it sound too desperate?

She couldn't stop herself.

"Harry, you don't understand what it's been like for me. Every day I wondered how you were. I longed to hear about you, I longed for some clue as to how you were. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to know about Ron and Hermione as well, but, without you, there was a hole in my heart. I couldn't go near the tree, or the lake. I dreamed about you, every night. I woke up, desperately hoping it wasn't a dream. It was horrible Harry. And now you're here. You. You're not a dream. You're real, and I don't want to waste a minute."

Before Ginny could carry on she felt his hand on her face, and she felt him moving closer. She couldn't stop herself smiling, as she felt the longing for a kiss from him more than ever. Harry's other hand was now on Ginny's leg, and he was so closer to her that she could feel his breathe on her face. Was this it? After nearly a year, was she going to get another kiss from him?

Her question was answered nearly before it was asked, as she felt his lips on her. It was like a volcano erupted in her stomach. It was total bliss. It was total heaven. And this time, there was nobody there to interrupt. Their kiss ended as harry opened his eyes, and stared into hers. He moved his hand from her face to her waist, and pulled her towards him. Ginny soon found herself sat on his knee, and they were kissing again. More passionately this time, and she felt as though it was never going to end. Everything that wasn't already said, was said within this kiss.

A few hours later they were still lying on that very same sofa, not asleep, but chatting, and kissing every now and again. They were lay, face to face, on a sofa that was so small that Harry had to grip onto Ginny's waist to keep her on the sofa. Ginny wouldn't have had it any other way, and soon enough, they had drifted away, into sleep. Ginny dreamed of Harry that night, a lot. Happy dreams, of them together, getting married, and spending time together, but then she had dreams of Voldemort, striking Harry before Harry had managed to get him, and Fred was pushed into these dreams over and over again.

Ginny awoke to these dreams, and every time, Harry must have felt her waking up, because he whispered words of comfort, stoking her hair until she'd fallen back to sleep. She presumed every time she'd woken, that Harry was suffering the same dreams, and so he understood.

Ginny felt herself being shaken awake, and panic. She grabbed hold of Harry, who was lying next to her, staring at her, and said "what's happening?" but Harry merely smiled, which calmed her down, and she realised she was in the Gryffindor Common room, and remembered the events of the night before, and the happiness swept over her again as she looked into Harry's eyes.

"She's coming!" shouted Hermione's voice, and Ginny realised that it was Ron who had been shaking her so violently so that she woke up.  
"Sit up, sit up!" Ron shouted, "unless you want Mum questioning you both!"  
"Yeah," said Ginny "Maybe it wouldn't be wise to tell her just yet."

* * *

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns all characters, places and personalities in this story.

AN: This chapter has been updated for grammar corrections only.


	2. Back To The Burrow

Chapter Two – Back To The Burrow

Ginny watched her Mother clambering through the portrait hole, and as she did so, studied her appearance. She didn't look good at all. He red hair that matched Ginny's hair colour so much was wild, doing its own thing. Her face and eyes were puffed out and swollen. She'd obviously done no sleeping, and lots of crying that night.

"How are you Mum?" Ginny asked, knowing the answer she was going to get wouldn't be the truth.

"Oh, I'm coping," Mrs Weasley mumbled as she approached Harry, who was sitting next to Ginny on the leather sofa. "I'm so proud of you son, I really am."

Ginny watched Harry's eyes. At the word 'son' they shone a little, and Ginny thought she knew why. Harry had never had a family, not a loving one anyway. Ginny and the rest of her family just saw it normal, and took it for granted. Harry obviously liked feeling like a part of the Weasley family. And he always had been, Ginny thought, as she remembered the first time she'd seen Harry at her house.

"There's no need to be proud Mrs Weasley, I just did what I had to do," Harry replied. He did look happy though, and Ginny could see in his eyes the love and admiration Harry felt for Mrs Weasley.

"Oh, Harry, you saved us all, you really should be proud. Have you had enough sleep? Enough food?"

"Mrs Weasley, you shouldn't be worrying about that now," Harry said, and everybody's faces all showed little smiles. Everyone must have been thinking the same as Ginny. How typical it was of Mrs Weasley to ask things like that. She'd just lost a son, and yet she was still mothering everyone else. Ginny respected her Mother for this. Not many people could go through what she had gone through that night, and still act as normal as this.

"Shall we go back to The Burrow then?" Mrs Weasley asked the rest of the family. "And you Harry. You know you are welcome at The Burrow for as long as you need. I have a feeling you won't be moving back with your Auntie and Uncle, and I would consider it a great honour if you moved in with us for a while. I don't want you on your own now."

Ginny's heart did a little flip, as she listened to her Mother's words. She was offering for Harry to live with them. Harry would be there, everyday, with her. As long as he said yes of course, and she watched Harry's face, to find the answer. And it was there, in his eyes. His eyes showed happiness at the words Mrs Weasley spoke, and Ginny knew herself that Harry classed The Burrow as his second home, his second-best place, loosing out to only Hogwarts.

"Yes, yes of course!" Harry said, and he had a huge grin on his face. "I'd love that Mrs Weasley, I really would. I wouldn't like to be a burden though," and at these words Harry's grin faded. Ginny knew what he was thinking about. He blamed himself for the loss of Fred, and he saw himself as someone who had only upset the Weasley's, and he felt very guilty.

"Listen," Harry muttered, but Mrs Weasley cut over him. She'd known him for seven years now, and she also, like Ginny, knew what he was thinking.

"Harry, don't be stupid, you're no burden. I don't want you blaming yourself for... well... what happened. It's not your fault at all, do you hear me? You should be thinking of everything else you've done for our family, not that. None of this was your fault Harry. It was a war, and the war needed fighting. Think of your second year, Ginny, you saved her life. You chased Ron when Sirius dragged him into the Shreaking Shack. Yes Harry, I know he wasn't in any danger, but you didn't know that. Same with the Triwizard Tournament. And you protected Ginny and him in your fifth year, saved my husband, and you saved Ron's life in your sixth, and now, now you've saved the lives of all the people that would have fallen to the hands of Voldemort if you hadn't fought him. So if I hear or find you such as _thinking_ you're too blame, you'll be sorry, okay?" And she ended this speech with a smile, although through tears. While she was speaking she'd moved out of the armchair and knelt in front of Harry, both her hands on his cheeks. She was staring at him the whole time she spoke, making sure he couldn't argue back, and as she was speaking of Harry saving her family time and time again, she'd began to cry.

She stayed knelt in front of Harry after she'd finished, and watched his face. He looked as though he was trying to find something to say, but couldn't. Evidently he'd ran out of ideas, because he just mumbled ''okay'' and smiled. At that, Mrs Weasley rose from the place she was knelt at and turned to Hermione.

"You'll come and stay with us too Hermione?" Mrs Weasley asked. "Until you find your parents of course? You know you're welcome anyway, so, what do you say?"

Ginny watched Hermione glance at Ron and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Yes, of course Mrs Weasley, I'd love to, I really would."

"Right, so that settles it then," Mrs Weasley said. "Everybody else and Arthur, well, your Father should I say, are waiting at the entrance."

At the mention of "everybody else" though, the whole room had gone quiet. It wasn't everybody else, it was minus one person. Ginny watched as everyone's faces hardened, including Mrs Weasley, who had stopped trying to fight her tears.

"Come on," she mumbled, turning her back on everyone, and walking towards the portrait hole. "We'd best go and meet them, they'll be wondering what's happened."

Ginny felt Harry's hand find hers, and give it a slight squeeze. She knew from this, he was trying to comfort her. She rose from her seat and pulled on his hand, and then let go. She didn't want her family seeing them yet. She didn't know what her brothers, minus Ron, would have to say about it, for she was still their little sister, and they were still protective over her.

"Come on," she said, gesturing towards the little hole behind The Fat Lady, "we'd best catch up."

The four of them emerged at the front doors of Hogwarts just as Mrs Weasley was wondering aloud where they were.

"Ah, about time," Mr Weasley said, "did you have a nice sleep? Oh, and Harry, well done, we're so proud of you."

Ginny looked around at her family. All of them were looking towards Harry and smiling, but none of them looked truly happy. George's face was red, and puffy, matching his Mother's. He too, looked at though he'd spent the night before crying, rather than sleeping. Fleur's normally beautifully straight hair was shoved in a messy ponytail. It wasn't like her to stop caring about her appearance.

"Thank you," Harry said to them all. He didn't mean it. Ginny knew this. He didn't want people saying thank you. He still believed he was to blame, even though Mrs Weasley had given him that lecture.

Ginny kept her distance from Harry on the walk through the Hogwarts grounds, to the point that they could apparate to The Burrow. She didn't want her Mum, Dad or especially her brothers noticing anything. Charlie, Bill and Percy were still with them, and so was George. She didn't want to risk telling them, in case they didn't approve and kept them apart.

Harry frequently shot Ginny glances, and she couldn't help but look back. She just hoped nobody else noticed. Hermione and Ron looked as though they'd decided to do the same thing as Harry and Ginny for now. Although the Weasley brothers wouldn't object, because Ron wasn't their only sister, Ron obviously didn't know how his Mother and Father would react. They might try and keep him and Hermione apart.

Ginny guessed all this by the fact that Hermione had come and walked on the other side of Ginny, near the front of the group, and Ron had moved to walk with Harry, near the back. Ginny noticed the looks though, that she recognised from the looks that Harry kept shooting at her.

Hagrid's cabin was half burnt down now, much as it looked on the night that Albus Dumbledore had died. Good job Hagrid wasn't there, Ginny thought. She knew he had been staying in a cave with his half-brother, Grawp. He had come down to help in the battle as well. She loved Hagrid, Ginny did. He was a lovely person, she thought. She made a mental note to make sure she came back with Harry to see him, to check he was okay.

As they reached the gates that were the entrance to Hogwarts, Ginny realised nobody had been to the Burrow since Christmas. It had been too dangerous after the Death Eaters and Voldemort had learned that Ron was on the run with 'The Undesirable Number One'. The place would be dark and lonely. She had never been there without at least half of her brothers being there. She couldn't imagine it being empty.

Ginny turned to look at her school. It was crumbling, and parts of the inside were exposed, as giants had smashed the walls up. They obviously hadn't started to repair it yet, they were probably still either celebrating, or mourning.

"Right," Mr Weasley said, "who can apparate here?"

"Well," Mrs Weasley replied, "There's me and you, George, Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fleur and Hermione. Ginny, Ron and Harry will have to do side-along. Ginny, you come with me, Ron you can go with your father and Harry, you can go with Bill. Would you mind Bill?"

"No, no, definitely not." Bill replied, straightening up and holding out his arm to Harry.

"Ginny," her Mother said, "this may not be very comfortable. It sort of feels like... well,"

"Like you're being suffocated," Harry cut in.

"Erm, yeah, sort of like that," added Mrs Weasley.

"Oh," Ginny mumbled. She'd never apparated, and she was worrying about it. She and her fellow classmates were supposed to have apparation lessons in their sixth year, but, because of the disruption of Hogwarts, she never had them.

"You ready?" Mrs Weasley asked Ginny.

"Yeah," Ginny said, taking in a big breath and taking hold of her Mother.

"Three... Two... One," and then there was the feeling Harry had explained. She felt as though somebody had tied a rope as tight as possible and they were never going to let go. She was running out of air and didn't know what to do. She could feel herself moving but couldn't see anything, until... Oh, it was The Burrow, coming into view. She still had no breath though, and just as though she felt like she couldn't hold any longer, she landed, and the 'rope' loosened, and she took in the biggest breath she could manage. She was standing next to the gate that led into The Burrow, and figured that you couldn't apparate straight into it.

"Well, that was a good feeling," Ginny mumbled.

"What? Apparating?" Harry asked, looking extremely surprised.

"No," Ginny replied, avoiding Harry's eyes. "Landing."

Ginny felt that if she looked at Harry, her family would be able to see the love she had for him, in her eyes. Maybe it would give her away to him, too. She hadn't told him about how much she actually felt for him. Neither of them had ever used the word 'love'. She didn't know whether it would make him happy or scare him away if she told him. She presumed it was the latter.

She looked around at her family. Every one of them was looking at The Burrow, a shocked look etched on each one. Ginny followed their gaze, and turned and looked at her house. She found a site that shocked her. The door was hanging off, walls were crumbling, windows were smashed, and their belongings were strewn across their garden. In fact, it greatly resembled the school which they had just left. Obviously, the Death Eaters had searched their house, looking for clues of Harry's whereabouts time and time again. They probably found nothing, and then got angry, smashing up as much as possible in revenge for the Weasley's not leaving any clues around their house.

It wasn't going to be easy to sort this out. It wasn't going to be easy at all.


End file.
